Off the Map Movie Review 2003

Information and Film Reviews for Off the Map the Movie

Folksy, quirky melodrama gets an extra bone for the strength of its performances. In 1974, eccentric IRS agent William Gibbs (True-Frost) is assigned to audit the Groden family and manages to stumble across their isolated New Mexico desert house. The Grodens, who live off the grid, are in the midst of a crisis. Grizzled Charley (Elliott) has slipped into clinical depression and hasn't spoken in months while free-spirited, unsentimental wife Arlene (Allen) gardens in the nude, and their preteen daughter Bo (de Angelis) longs for friends and a "normal" life. Gibbs becomes so involved with the Grodens that he throws his job aside to stay with them and his presence alters the family's precarious balance. Film is narrated by the grown-up Bo (Brenneman); Ackermann adapted from her play.